Brewgooder, the world’s first craft beer label to donate 100% of its profits to clean water projects, has had the backing of one of Scotland’s most successful wholesale businesses, Glasgow based, JW Filshill.
Simon Hannah, JW Filshill managing director and Chris Miller, group commercial director have joined the board, alongside Josh Littlejohn, Alan Mahon and Stephen McCranor, bringing a broad range of experience of the beer, retail and wholesale sectors.
To help the brand secure a high profile in the on-trade market, Brewgooder has also bolstered its team with Steve Annand of Glasshouse Drinks Ltd. Through collaborative working the enhanced team will help the enterprise realise its ambition of providing 1 million people with clean drinking water.
Brewgooder launched in March 2016 and is the brainchild of Alan Mahon and Josh Littlejohn, the friends and social entrepreneurs behind the popular Social Bite sandwich shop chain. In just five months the company has raised £60,000 via crowdfunding and continues to seek investors to provide clean drinking water to millions of people in developing countries.
The beer is brewed in partnership with Brewdog at their Ellon brewery, at zero margin. All profits are donated to the Brewgooder Foundation whose trustees are made up of Alan Mahon, Josh Littlejohn, and BrewDog founders James Watt and Martin Dickie and supported by philanthropic partner, The Hunter Foundation.
The brand is also on track for international distribution with discussions underway with buyers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, via the Craft Beer Clan of Scotland, JW Filshill’s international division to help craft brewers penetrate international markets. In addition, the product will be showcased at forthcoming expos with Scottish Enterprise and Scotland Food & Drink, extending its worldwide reach.
The Brewgooder Foundation has already formed partnerships with Oxfam, WaterAid and MercyCorps to distribute its funds with the first project being the installation of solar powered water pumps at the Nora Docherty School in a remote village in Dedza, Malawi.
Simon Hannah, managing director of JW Filshill, said, “Both Chris and I are delighted to support Alan and Josh with this extremely exciting venture. This means that when you drink Brewgooder you are providing water and water hygiene education to communities across the world which are vulnerable to waterborne diseases. This project is a great example of collaboration across the industry. From production through to supply chain, working with partners across the sector has laid the foundations for a solid business which will do genuine good.”
Alan Mahon, co-founder of Brewgooder, said, “This is an exciting time for Brewgooder. Our crowdfunding programme got us off to a flying start and with the new board appointments and retaining the services of Steve Annand it shows that we want to put beer industry muscle behind the vision of providing 1,000,000 people with clean drinking water through craft beer.
The beer is also now being sold through KeyStore outlets and independent specialists across Scotland retailing at £1.75 for a 330ml can.